CREATE A LEADER S SCRIPT

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Cody Martin
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1 IN THIS CHAPTER Have a clear message. Use structure. Close with a call to action. CREATE A LEADER S SCRIPT Once you have developed a Leader s Mindset, the next step is to organize your thoughts effectively by using the Leader s Script (see below). This template will be a tool you can use to prepare a script for formal, informal, or off-the-cuff interactions. Eventually you will be able to internalize this template so you can also focus your thoughts on the fly. The Leader s Script Grabber: Subject: Message: Structural Statement: Point One: Point Two: Point Three: Restated Message: Call to Action: ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING USING THIS TOOL

2 This chapter describes the components of the script and how to use them to organize your ideas. Subject The subject appears near the beginning of your script, after the grabber. It defines the topic you will be discussing for the audience. The subject is not inspirational, but it s not meant to be. Instead it lays out the scope of the talk. Here are some examples of how you can frame your subject: This presentation will outline I want to talk to you about In this meeting we will explore Let s look at Keep in mind the subject should be a single sentence. Message The most critical step in preparing the Leader s Script is formulating the message. This argument gives shape to your thinking and is central to your script. If you do not have a single, clear main idea, you ll come across as having nothing to say. Or paradoxically, you will seem to have too many things to say. Speaking without a single message is, quite literally, pointless. Where Should you Place the Message? Since the message is the most important part of your script, it must appear in both the introduction and conclusion.

3 DIAGRAM OF THE LEADER S SCRIPT By putting your message up front, you ll be positioning yourself as a leader. The message conveys the single idea you want to get across. The audience will then be listening carefully to see if you can argue that idea effectively. Your listeners will evaluate everything in the body of your talk to see if you have made a compelling case. By returning to your message in your conclusion, you will tie everything you have said back to your key idea. Your audience will then be able to evaluate whether or not you have sold them on your message. What is meant by a Message or Main Idea? Your message is simply a point the point you are making about the subject. It needn t be controversial, although it may be at times. The message distils your vision and demonstrates your leadership. For a leader, having a message is critical. It is that element of talk that comes from within the speaker. It represents your inner convictions. It says to the audience, This is what I believe, and when I m finished speaking, I d like you to believe it too. The message embodies your leadership: you want others to believe and act upon it. It is distinctive from your subject.

4 How do you Formulate your Message? The message provides direction to the speaker and audience. Make sure your listeners know this is the focus of your remarks. Every message should be a single sentence that embodies five criteria: It must engage your audience. Your message must touch the hearts and minds of your audience so they are eager to hear you make your case. If it provokes no reaction it is either a platitude or not a message at all. It must be positive. A negative message will never inspire. If you need to acknowledge a negative in your message, make the dominant clause of the message positive and put the negative before the positive. ( While it was a challenging year for us, we are off to a very positive start this year as our revenues and profits are soaring. ) It must fit with your organization s outlook. Every business presentation is a reflection of your firm s goals. For that reason your message should be positive and inspire belief in your company or organization. It must reflect you. Your message should reflect your sphere of responsibility. As well, it should reflect your inner convictions. You must be passionately committed to the message. It must square with the facts. Your argument must be based on sound research or deep insight on your part, or your listeners will walk away shaking their heads. Be sure you can substantiate your message. Since your message is the central idea of your script, it s important that your audience hears it as such. For that reason, you want to frame it effectively. Here are some examples of how you can frame your message: The message I want to convey to you is that This presentation will conclusively demonstrate that (For a team presentation) Our team firmly believes that (For a meeting comment) My point is.. By stating your message in such a way, you will ensure you are making a statement of belief and conviction, rather than simply sharing information.

5 Grabber While your message appears at the beginning of your talk, you can t make it your first sentence. Only in short comments should you begin with the message. Normally, you must engage your audience and provide a context for your argument. This is the role of the grabber. There are three kinds of grabber: 1. The personal grabber is like a verbal handshake. It brings the audience and speaker together. The speaker can: Share something personal ( I ) Share something about the audience ( You ) Discuss something that the speaker and the audience have in common ( We ) A personal grabber may also be a combination of the above. 2. The factual grabber provides the audience with background that sets the stage for your message. The speaker can: Lay out relevant facts that set the message in context ( let me highlight last week s sales numbers. ) 3. The literary grabber draws the audience into the talk because the material used is so interesting and relevant. The chosen material can be quoted, paraphrased or told as a story. This grabber is most appropriate for formal opportunities (e.g., speeches). Source material for this type of grabber can be any of the following: Literature History Biography Quotations The grabber is generally proportional in length to the talk. In a 25-minute speech, the grabber might be several minutes. In a brief conversation the grabber might be 30 seconds. In a meeting comment or an answer to a question, it might be one sentence.

6 Finally, the grabber should always relate to the message. A great story or joke that is followed by, And now for my speech, will not have the impact a leader is seeking. Instead, use the grabber to get the audience ready to hear your message by linking the grabber to the subject and message that follow it. Restated Message Your conclusion also contains your message. By restating it you will ensure common thinking between you and your listeners. While the restated message should always be the same idea as your initial message, write or state it in such a way that your audience knows you are concluding your script. For example, you might begin with, As I have demonstrated to you today or As you have seen in our presentation Call to Action Your talk or remarks should end with a call to action. The call to action follows from your message. It translates your main idea into actions that turn your argument into reality. The more concrete a call to action is, the better. There are three types of call to action: First, the call to action can be directed to the audience. It asks them to act on your message and suggests what steps they can take to achieve the goals you have discussed. Second, the call to action can be self-directed. In this case, you tell the audience what you will do to turn the message into reality. For example, a senior executive talking to shareholders might describe the actions management will take to realize the goals outlined in the talk. The third approach is a combined call to action. In this instance, you stipulate actions to be taken by two or more parties, which may include the speaker and the audience. Keep in mind that the call to action should always be concrete. This means instead of asking generically for, Your support on this project, to ask for, The approval to immediately hire four full-time employees to work on this project. Make sure your call to action is also time sensitive. Set a timeline that will ensure your audience needs to commit to the next steps you have outlined. For example, I m looking for your approval to meet with investors in two weeks to outline our strategy. The call to action is one of the most exciting moments in a speech or presentation. At its best, it is truly motivational because it translates the speaker s message into action.

7 Structure At the heart of every Leader s Script is a clear structure. This organization develops your main idea and shows the relationship among your ideas. Without strong structural elements, a talk, presentation, or even an becomes a jumble of information. As this chapter suggests, the pattern of organization emerges from an outline, follows one of several models, and should be flagged so that no one misses it. The structure defines the body of your script and the middle section of the Leader s Script. Developing an Outline Before you write a presentation or deliver a set of informal remarks, develop an outline that elaborates your message statement, as in the diagram below: A MESSAGE-DRIVEN OUTLINE Note that the main ideas (I, II, III) help develop the message and the subpoints (A, B, C) and do the same for their main ideas. The diagram indicates the logic embedded in a well-structured talk. Everything points back to and proves the main message. The outline can serve several purposes depending upon the type of speaking you re doing: For a formal speech, use the outline as the skeleton of the speech. The statements in the outline will be incorporated into the speech. For a formal presentation, use the outline as your speaking notes. If you decide you want to use visuals, it will be the platform on top of which you construct your slides. For an informal talk (without visuals), or if you are speaking in a meeting, use the outline as speaking notes. Make the sentences short enough to see at a glance.

8 For a brief comment, a voic message, or an answer to a question, prepare yourself with a quick mental outline. For a written document or , use the outline to shape the arguments you will convey. The Structural Statement After your message, but before you begin setting forth your key arguments, provide your audience with a structural statement. This is a single sentence that tells your audience how you will be proving your message. Selecting Patterns of Organization All scripts can be constructed by using one or more of the following patterns of organization. To begin with, choose the one that best elaborates your overall message. Then choose patterns that best develop each of the main points. Continue this process until the outline is complete. Remember that every script should have one single overall pattern of organization. 1. The Reasons Model. This pattern advances your message by offering reasons why the audience should believe your message. EXAMPLE: Message: My message to you this afternoon is that to remain a market leader, we must restructure our business immediately. Structural Statement: Here are the four reasons I say that. Body: First, we are facing new competition that is undercutting us on price. Second, our cost structure is feeling the strain of rising commodity prices. Third, customers are transitioning away from high margin, legacy offerings. Fourth, we are facing pressure from the capital markets to act 2. The Ways Model. This pattern of organization elaborates your message by showing how the message could be, was or will be achieved. EXAMPLE: Message: Our current initiatives are building confidence in the company s leadership and direction.

9 Structural Statement: Let me give you the three ways we are doing this. Body: The first way we are building confidence is by helping our employees under stand the changes that are taking place. The second way we are building confidence is by enhancing our leadership program. The third way we are building confidence is by delivering on the commitments we made a year ago. 3. Situation and Response Model. This powerful model can also be called the Problem/Solution, Cause/Effect, or Challenge/Response Model. It is a dual model that is used when discussing a response to a challenge or a solution to a problem. EXAMPLE: Message: The rise of commodity prices, which has placed pressures on our business, provides an opportunity for us to improve our efficiency. Structural Statement: First I ll tell you about the reality we face, then suggest how we can capitalize on it. Body: Commodity prices are pinching our margins as a manufacturing company and they are challenging our competitiveness. Rather than getting down, we should embrace this challenge as a much needed catalyst to finally drive efficiencies into our supply chain and procurement practices. 4. The Present Results, Future Prospects Model. This model describes a reality to date (looking backward) and an anticipated reality in the time period to come (looking forward). It is especially useful in annual meeting speeches, quarterly updates or performance reviews. Think of it as the update model in which you not only describe what has been, but also what is to come. EXAMPLE: Message: While the recent period of cost-cutting has created a set of challenges for all of you, we are now well-positioned to be a more competitive organization in the coming years.

10 Structural Statement: First I ll tell you about our results this year, and then I ll share my vision of the future. Body: This was a challenging year for our company. Looking ahead, I see us as well-positioned for growth in a market that holds great opportunity for us. 5. The Chronological Model. This model moves through a situation chronologically, using time as the key organizing factor. A typical breakdown would be past, present and future. EXAMPLE: Message: This afternoon I ll make clear why we are on the way to having exceptional call centres. Structural Statement: Let me tell you about the stages in this journey. Body: To begin with, we brought in great people to run our call centres. Next, we developed technology that put us at the top of the industry. Today we are refining our customer interaction strategies to improve service quality. In the future we ll reap the rewards of all these changes. Emphasize your Organizational Statements Where possible, use language and signpost words in all the structural elements to flag your pattern of organization (e.g., The first reason I believe that... The second reason I believe that, etc.). Referring to a problem and a corresponding solution flags the third pattern above. Temporal words/phrases such as in the past, today, or in the future show you are using model 4 or 5. Alert your audience to upcoming structural statements by bridging. For example, So those are the challenges that we re facing. Let s now talk about the four ways we can address these challenges.

11 Subordinate Levels of Structure While each outline should have one dominant pattern of organization, you may end up using multiple patterns of organization to show why your argument is true. Consider the diagram below, which shows how a simple situation/response structure proves the message. Such a model would be useful for very high-level speaker notes to be used in a meeting or off-the-cuff situation. SITUATION/RESPONSE STRUCTURE But let s say the speaker instead wanted to have a more thorough and fleshed-out argument, one that could be used to deliver remarks at a town hall, or in an informal presentation to management. She then needs to have a pattern of organization to argue the situation, and one for the response (next page): SITUATION/RESPONSE WITH REASONS/WAYS SUB STRUCTURE

12 Notice how there is one overall pattern of organization, but also a pattern to argue each main division. This ensures that everything presented still shows why the message is true. But now let s imagine the presenter is giving a scripted speech and must have an outline that conveys even more clarity of thinking. Let s look at how the next level of structure is created. OUTLINE WITH THIRD LEVEL OF STRUCTURE DETERMINED Again the writer has applied the structural rules to flesh out each main division in the third level of structure. This ensures that a more comprehensive argument is conveyed in a way that makes good structural sense. By using these subordinate levels of structure you will ensure that each point is appropriately elaborated for the listener or reader. The Outline: A Foundation for Inspiration Once you ve completed your outline, you will have a framework of compelling thinking that will enable you to inspire. You can use this outline: As your speaker notes in a meeting To create visuals that convey your argument As the bones of a scripted speech To produce a memo or formal written document For any other communication where you wish to convey your thinking

13 Regardless of what format you are using, make sure you help your audience hear your structure. Use your structural statements to carry the audience forward into each new dimension of your argument. Without such statements, the audience will be lost in a sea of content. By constructing your talk around these interrelated statements, you will be certain to stay on track. Your audience will have an easier time staying with you. So before speaking or writing, always take the time to develop an outline.

14 The Leader s Script Grabber: Subject: Message: Structural Statement: The following points prove the message. They represent one of five patterns: reasons, ways, situation/response, present results/future prospects, and chronological. Point One: A: B: C: Point Two: A: B: C: Point Three: A: B: C: Restated Message: Call to Action: The Humphrey Group Inc.

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